Please accept my apologies but I'm going to get on my soapbox.
Tonight I witnessed a beautiful show by one of the best songwriters living here in the UK at the moment. But the big problem was, the audience was so small for Sarah McQuaid it probably didn't even cover her travelling costs.
Now -I know it's tough out there for everyone at the moment but Music Lovers and gig goers like myself really have to wake up to the fact that if we don't support these artists then they aren't going to play live for us. Especially here in Wales.
We know what we have to do. Buy the tickets early, don't just turn up on the door. Use our Social Media presence to sing the praises of a good show.
West Wales desperately needs a venue for Singer Songwriters like Sarah.
Swansea once had The Chattery. A Fabulous Greenwich Village Cafe inspired venue in the Uplands in Swansea. This would have been the perfect venue.
Now, Pontardawe has an excellent Folk heritage but The Arts Centre is much too large a venue for the likes of Sarah and her ilk. But I can see why she played here. The sound is fabulous, the venue well run but it's just too big.
If I had the available funds I would set up a venue in the Swansea area similar to Acapela near Cardiff. Seating approximately up to 150 with decent views and most importantly an excellent sound system.
Sarah is actually coming to Acapela in 2025. Get tickets here
Anyway, sorry about that - rant over - but it needed to be said. Audiences YOU hold the power of live shows in YOUR hands.
So, what of tonight's show.
It's always a treat when artists choose a local performer as a support artist, especially young and upcoming talent. Tonight, I could see why Sarah picked Laila Woodward to support her.
Hailing from the Swansea are, I encountered Laila when she supported Climbing trees in this same venue last year. She was good then, she was even better tonight.
Laila has just released her first EP Hidden Blue and there's something special in catching an artist right at the beginning of a career in music. Seeing that vulnerability and sensitivity in her performance it just made me want to hear more. Which is always a good sign. I hope she was taking notes of Sarah's performance and choice of material as it will certainly point her in the right direction. Her 5 song set just flew by and I look forward to hearing more material from her in the future.
She's Blue
My Mind Is Like An Ocean
Hidden
Now I'll lay me cards on the table, I'm no stranger to Sarah McQuaid's music having seen her several times over the years but tonight I thought her vocals were the best I've heard her sing.
She came onto the stage and gave the first song an a capella performance. Just beautiful. Now 6 albums into an interesting career, Sarah chose songs from most of her albums tonight. Using a piano, acoustic guitar, an electric guitar and a drum, Sarah kept the sound tight and relevant to each song she sung tonight.
Her most recent album was recorded live (with no audience) during the Pandemic at a church local to her in Cornwall, St Buryan's and the atmosphere tonight was like having your own private performance of this album. Absolutely delicious.
Songs included Charlie's Gone Home and Johnny Lad
Charlie's Gone Home
The album that Sarah released prior to the St Buryan's set was the dense and fabulous If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous. This song got a great airing tonight as Sarah played the electric guitar once owned by legendary songwriter Michael Chapman, sadly no longer with us.
If We Dig Any Deeper
Indeed, Sarah took to the piano to play one of Michael's songs tonight, The excellent Rabbit Hills
Rabbit Hills
Sarah even went back to her first album When To Lovers Meet for the title track.
When Two Lovers Meet
Sarah then turned to her electric guitar once more for the instrumental The Day Of Wrath, That Day.
Quite often Sarah looks to her family for inspiration for her songs and tonight she played Yellowstone - inspired by her young son.
Yellowstone
Next up we had the lovely In Derby Cathedral which culminated in a stunning array of Sarah's voice looped to create a mini choir.
Now, Sarah tries to include a cover on most of her albums and tonight she debuted what will probably be the cover on her next album. To my surprise it was the Radiohead song Fake Plastic Trees.
Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
I bet most of the crowd had been sitting there thinking 'what does she want that drum for?' Well, they found out the next song when it was just Sarah and the drum playing One Sparrow Down. It had the biggest cheer of the night.
Then we were down to the last track of the night - and Sarah once again strapped on the electric guitar for the plaintive Tug Of The Moon.
The Tug Of The Moon
There was always going to be an encore - and what better to say goodbye with than an a capella version of The Parting Glass.
There was no faulting Sarah's or Laila's performances - I just wished there were more people there to enjoy such a beautiful evening of Music. C'mon Wales - you can do better than this!!
Aw thank you so much for these kind words, Nick!
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